Think Young, No Matter What Your Age.

“How foolish to think one could ever slap the door in the face of age.
Much wiser to be polite and gracious and ask him (or her) to lunch
in advance.” – Noel Coward

“Thinking young” is not pretending to be young. The magic of thinking young is allowing our mind and our emotions to be flexible and daring, always looking for adventure and satisfaction, searching for new things to experience and
enjoy. We can all be that kind of person with that kind of mind no matter how old we are.

Aging doesn’t have to be a fearful, isolating, empty process. It can become a time of new discoveries about ourselves and the world around us. It can be a time for new adventures even if the physical adventures of rock climbing and running marathons are beyond our physical abilities.

I learned that I could walk a marathon; in my late 60’s, I entered the U.S. Marine Corps Marathon and participated with all those crew-cut runners, and I still had great fun doing it. Sure, they arrived at the 26.2 mile finish line way ahead of me, but I finished the marathon! Just because our wrinkles are showing and our pace is slowing doesn’t mean we can’t be explorers and adventurers; we can continue to enter the world, whether it’s a walk around the block, a hike in the Cotswold’s, or re-discover our childhood by reading the adventures of Harry Potter.

“Thinking young” is an on-going, active engagement with our personal world every moment of every day. The key is to be constantly aware that every single day, every single precious moment, may be our last. We must continually exercise our emotions, our mind and our life processes with the same daily dedication with which we exercise our body, in order to stay physically healthy and pain-free. Even if we are retired or disabled, we must continue to make friends, join groups, read books, make a strong effort to create within every day an adventure.

What are you doing to “think young”? Let me know and I’ll pass it on to others who would like more suggestions for activities to help them live life to its fullest.

Whom Do You Trust Under 60?

When we were younger, our culture cry was “Don’t trust anyone over 30”. As always, youth and aging cultures clash on everything from tastes in music, to clothing, to morals. Because of this knee-jerk mutual-misunderstanding and mistrust, groups isolate themselves from one another, to both sides’ great loss.

This mutual alienation must not repeat itself now, for we are older, and as we age, we grow wiser. Most of the moral laxity and bad taste we see in our children and grandchildren, if we look carefully , may closely resemble our own juvenile actions and attitudes way back then.

I am not suggesting that we learn to love their music or wear their grungy clothing, but we do need to understand their “art of aging” process just as we need to understand and benefit from our own. We all, the young and the old, have to learn a little bit better “how to grow up”. We all need to learn new lessons of wisdom and new ways to make our inevitable passage of time a little more comfortable, a little less dangerous, more enjoyable and, especially, even more joyful.

By easing back on our prejudices and creating a more open awareness and acceptance of those different from us, we open a new freedom for ourselves as we age. Just because we aren’t as young and energetic and adventurous as we once were, we can still “think young”. Times are a-changing and life isn’t as it used to be, for young and old alike. Maybe if we get to know more youthful people, no matter what their age, we will begin to have more youthful, life-affirming ideas as well.

Come on, gang, let’s get with it. There’s lots of life in us old folks yet. Please view and listen to the attached little video. Turn up the sound and enjoy, bring a smile to your face. Feel what it is to be young at heart again.

http://www.zoph.net/hedwig/